The Gallifreyan Gazette Pages

Friday, June 13, 2014

Marvel V. DC - The Next Stage - Looking at the Schedules for 2014 and Beyond!

By Ken Parker

Well, WB has released a very ambitious plan for the DC
universe that certainly mimic’s Marvel’s success over the past few years.

May 2016 - BATMAN V.
SUPERMAN

July 2016 - SHAZAM

Xmas 2016 - SANDMAN

May 2017 - JUSTICE
LEAGUE

July 2017 - WONDER WOMAN

XMAS 2017 - UNTITLED
GREEN LANTERN/THE FLASH TEAM-UP

MAY 2018 - MAN OF STEEL
2

This looks pretty cool but how will Shazam and Sandman do is
a big question. Man of Steel was not the
massive success that Iron Man was and Green Lantern was not a determining factor
in all this either. Certainly the Batman
franchise has been healthy but without Christian Bale and no stand alone Batman
film in the plan, one has to wonder if DC can keep the momentum going. The majority of audiences probably can’t tell
the difference between DC and Marvel and will just see these as just more superhero
films. This may steer them to the
franchise they have grown to know and love, Marvel. Of course the Marvel path is a few years old
now and perhaps the new franchise will be what people want to see, something
different with DC.

Looking at both franchises we can see that every film will
be important in their own right.

Batman V. Superman (May 2016) -This film
should be very big but the bad aftertaste of Man of Steelas put me on
edge. Ben Affleck as Batman is not
helping. Of course the gimmicky cameos
of other characters like Wonder Woman will get people more interested in the
franchise and give the films continuity which has not been established yet. This is a very important film for WB. It has to do well as it is one of the
foundations for its future. Staying away from The Avengers - Age of Ultron in 2015 might be a great idea but going against Captain America 3 and Avengers - Apocalypse in 2016 is not.

Shazam (July 2016) - Who?
I am not sure how this will do but I was a bit nervous of Thor
originally so who knows. This is a bit
of a strange stand alone film and so I think Batman V. Superman needs to
establish continuity and a tease for people to really want to see Shazam. Casting and promotion will help. Dwayne Johnson is rumored to be playing the lead.
Not sure this is a good idea. I think WB
is relying too heavily on a lesser known heroes and should have gone with
Wonder Woman or Flash.

Sandman (Xmas 2016) - Read Shazam above. Same thing
but by this time we will know how much DC has going. They need a fast start out of the gate to
coast through these final films of 2016.
Certainly Justice League will be a monster movie but will it be in class
with The Avengers? Only if they can keep
the momentum going. Joseph Gordon- Levitt is cast and that is pretty good. Of course this film will be going up against
the first proposed Star Wars Spin-off movie, also coming out at this time. Yeeshh.

Justice League (May 2017) -
This is the big one and hopefully people will enjoy the ride
to this point and not just be going through the motions waiting for this
movie. Hopefully WB doesn’t go through
the motions either, they have to make quality products leading up to this
point. Of course the payoff has to be
big. DC has to make their own identity
as well and not be just like The Avengers.
Perhaps the darker heroes is the way to go. This film date may move to
stay away The Avengers.

from

Wonder Woman (July 2017) - This is a heavily
anticipated film and I would have thought that having this film leading up to
Justice League would have made more sense.
Still, if the DC machine is rolling well at this point and the character
of Wonder Woman is handled well, this film could be a great momentum booster

right at the height of the franchise.

Untitled Green Lantern/ The Flash Team-Up (Xmas 2017) - Well, again, if these characters are imagined properly and well cast
(Ryan Reynolds is not Green Lantern) then this should be a great follow
up. If the franchise is not rolling as
well, this could be the film easiest to cancel.

Man of Steel 2 (May 2018) - I think many fans are
sort of torn by this film. Man of Steel
was not the film most hoped and if the character of Superman is steered into
the right direction throughout all of these films then I think faith in the
character will be returned. But if the
character continues to do non Superman type things, this film could be the
final nail in the DC coffin.

Movie studios love origin stories and in the case of Marvel,
most of the main character list had an origin movie before The Avengers. In the case of DC, they are perhaps going a
bit backwards with it. Will we see many
of these heroes in action and then see their origins later on? Will Wonder Woman’s origin be in Batman v.
Superman or in her stand alone film after the Justice League film? Do we really
want to see prequels? It will be interesting to see how this is handled. As with everything I would expect some of
this schedule to change in time.

Meanwhile Marvel’s schedule looks just as exciting

Guardians of the Galaxy (July 31, 2014)- this might be the first misstep for the
franchise. The argument that no one
knows these characters is valid but I am more worried that the movie will be so
far separated from the Avengers world.
Sure, this is probably going to set up story arcs for the next few years
but will audiences know that? Are they
going to be expecting to see their favorite heroes in this film or when seeing
the trailer are they not seeing any connection to The Avengers at all? Will the film do well or does it really
matter?

The Avengers Age of
Ultron (May 1, 2015) - Well, this is going to be huge but will the momentum be
a bit lower by the time this movie
arrives? Beyond Guardians, there is
nothing until Avengers so perhaps the wait will be the momentum. Given how well Captain America – Winter Soldier
did and received, can only succeed.

Age of Ultron

Ant-Man (July 31, 2015) – another new character in his own
movie. Production problems aside, this
film may be a let down of sorts but this franchise will no doubt continue to
keep the machine going toward the next Avengers film.

Captain America 3
(May 6, 2016) – Marvel returns with its heavy guns in 2016 with this
film that will no doubt act as a huge teaser for The Avengers -Apocalypse. This film will be the one that goes against
the next DC film, Batman v. Superman but after Winter Soldier, no one is worried.

Avengers- Apocalypse (May 26, 2016) – Having two films
released so close to one another is certainly great for momentum and will be an
incredible month for fans. Not only do
we have the pinnacle of The Avengers franchise which may or may not continue
after this movie but you have the start of the DC machine with Batman v.
Superman.

After this Marvel’s schedule gets cloudy. More than likely there will be another Thor
and Iron Man with perhaps another Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain
America. Will Black Widow score her own
film? What about Hulk? Will there be yet another Avengers film. Some of this will be dependent on how healthy
the Marvel franchise is. If doing well,
there may not be an end in sight but one would have to guess that new heroes
like Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Ant-Man and so on might take some of the
limelight when Iron Man and others retire.
One can see actors like Robert Downey and Chris Evans leaving their
parts

behind in a few years and so making other characters popular might be the
way to go.

I have neglected the other Marvel franchises like Fantastic
Four, Spider-Man and X-Men because they are with other studios. They will continue to ride the wake of The
Avengers franchise and have their own successes. I predict though that after 2016 that Marvel’s
Avengers franchise will really start showing its age and if DC is successful, I
would not be surprised to see a Marvel Team – Up with perhaps Spiderman or
Wolverine meeting the Avengers. Studios
will team up and bring these characters together. That would trump anything DC
has to offer at that point.

I don’t think Marvel has anything to worry about. They now own 2015 and DC is not going
anywhere until 2016. The idea that
superhero films could burn themselves out soon doesn’t seem to bother or affect
Marvel up to this point but DC may have to worry. If DC can do something different with their
heroes (darker or whatever) then they could create their own identity and stay
afloat. That might turn off some people
who prefer the lighter tones of Marvel.
Then again if DC copies Marvel with its humorous tone then it may be too
alike to Marvel and become boring. It
will be interesting to see.

Ultimately this may not be a battle. Both franchises can thrive and up to this point they have. They both want the superhero film to continue thrive and if one starts to falter, the other could be in trouble as well. When their releases coincide with one another, that is when it gets interesting. I eagerly await these battles. I don't have anything against DC. DC has been the favorite for years but not any more. They are the underdog and it will be interesting to see if they can hold their own. I do not want to see the franchise fail but if the characters are not within the range of the comic books or if they change too much, it is possible that people will lose interest.

One more short point. Would it be possible to see a Marvel V. DC film? Doubtful. I think we would see Wolverine, Spider-Man and hulk before that but it would be fun.

2 comments:

Wrong picture for Sandman. That is the Golden age Sandman not the Neil Gaiman one that they will be making a film for and that should do pretty well.http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/17/5218830/sandman-movie-producer-joseph-gordon-levitt

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